No personnel posted to this Patrol.
It has been suggested that this OB was actually a explosives store for all of Group 5 rather than an OB for Dawlish Patrol. Please let us know if you know more.
The OB was destroyed when the A38 was widened in the 1970s.
It was dug out by the men, by hand, and is remembered as a Nissen hut structure. Rather than a drop down shaft it had an entrance tunnel that had a dog leg in it. The overall structure was covered with straw (thinking it would insulate it in Winter) before being buried again under soil. It also had running water.
The modern day road cutting of the A38 Devon Expressway gives a false impression of the original contours of the land. Originally 20 foot or more above the present road surface the OB would have been on the hillside of the wooded area of Great Haldon.
Jack Addison watched with interest as contractors started to carve their way through the hillside to create that section of the A38 Devon Expressway during the 1970s. As they got closer to the still stocked OB he warned them they may need to stop and call “someone from the army”. The bomb disposal squad were called. It is, at present, unknown what their actions were but various items ended up in the possession of a Cornish Auxilier.
Mike Barber
Norman Rowe family